


the way the water dances

by kikuroo



Category: NU'EST, Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magical Realism, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, but god knows if I'll ever finish that main fic, minhyun's half !, onghwang is only implied sorry cultists, the rest of nu'est are full fairies owo, this is part of a bigger universe where onghwang is cute and fluffy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 04:36:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17196647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kikuroo/pseuds/kikuroo
Summary: sometimes even water can't keep its slippery grip on minhyun's sanity and that's why his friends are here to help





	the way the water dances

**Author's Note:**

> hi uwu it's Not the first fic I'm posting on here but!! this is one of the only ones I probably won't delete right away as a reflex ! i hope you enjoy this fic and criticism is welcome and appreciated!!
> 
> **this does deal with minhyun kinda having a mental breakdown so please watch out for that and don't continue on reading should that affect you negatively in any way!!**

Minhyun always had a clean personality. He was someone who rarely let personal matters interfere with his school work, made sure to never bother his friends with emotions that he deemed unnecessary to express. He took care of others and of never himself. 

Even so, he couldn’t help it when his resolve crumbled. When sand piled up in his lungs and scratched at his throat in desperate need to leave in heaves and acid. When water’s fingertips couldn’t move past the wooden doors of his anxiety, pushing and pushing and pushing, drowning until the hinges rusted in the form of tears. 

Everything builds up, Jonghyun told him once, settles soundly at the bottom of your stomach until something triggers it and suddenly it explodes at once—a firework of the hours of sleep abandoned for textbooks, the ticking of the clock and the tatter of a keyboard. Filled with musky scents and the sudden awareness of how weary you are, slow and unresponsive. 

He’s got the best of it, he supposes, pushing the plug into the drain and flicking on the faucet, the loud splatter of water against cistern ringing sharply in his ears. He sits on the edge of the bathtub. After a moment, he toes off his shoes, clambering into the tub. The ankles of his jeans get wet first, darkening in color at the touch of the water. It’s gonna be a pain to wash and dry these later, he thinks, drawing in his long limbs and fitting them in with much difficulty. 

What feels like hours pass and Minki’s leaning against the foundation of the wall, Jonghyun hot on his tail. Without looking, he can feel the disapproving look in Jonghyun’s eyes and the overwhelming concern of Minki’s.

“You can’t always handle your breakdowns like this, Min,” Jonghyun mutters and Minhyun almost misses it, the loud squeak of the faucet being turned off echoing in the small bathroom. “I know water helps you calm down, but one day you’re going to turn into a prune and then what’re we gonna do?” 

Minhyun laughs airily. “Maybe when I turn into a prune you’ll stop reprimanding me for my taste in coping mechanisms.”

Jonghyun shakes his head, gesturing towards the sound of dishes clanking in the kitchen and Minhyun barely catches the words ‘dinner’ and ‘Aaron’. His eyes are almost threatening, indicating that he must join them this time, and Minhyun nods solemnly. He turns to leave, but doesn’t fail to give him one last look of concern and hesitation. Minhyun feels small. 

He turns to himself in the mirror, noting the large bags under his eyes that he’s never cared to notice before and the lines across his forehead, smoothing them out in mock interest. He cups a face full of water, sighing at the wave of calm that engulfs his heart for a single second. It washes away again.

There’s a knock at the door and he opens it, grabbing the pile of dry clothes Minki hands him with the most genuine smile he could muster unguarded and Minki replies that he’s honored that he gets the first smile of the morning. Minhyun smiles again. 

He’s sluggish but he peels off his wet clothes and pulls on the dry ones, tossing them into the laundry basket hung near the corner. 

Minki’s still at the foot of the doorway, patting Minhyun’s arm with a gentle hum the moment he steps out.  _ Are you okay? _ Minhyun nods again and Minki’s giving him another warm smile that Minhyun nearly feels bad for a plethora of nothings. _ I will be _ . 

Dinner that night is beef rib stew—something Minhyun’s been craving for the past month— and he wonders how in the world Aaron knows exactly what he needs when he needs it (he’s almost convinced Aaron’s telepathic. He is an animal fairy, after all. Maybe his ability to talk to creatures translates into understanding the how’s and what’s of the human mind. Minhyun never dwells on it for too long). 

“Thanks, hyung.” Aaron gives him a wink and Dongho gags jokingly, to which Aaron reflexes with a soft smack of his spoon. Dongho winces and whines about the pain. 

“You’re such a big fairy, how can a little piece of metal do that much damage to you?” Aaron tsks, watching the other with fondness in his smile.

Dongho huffs. “Being a big fairy doesn’t mean I can’t get hurt! Ah, you’re so unfair.” 

There’s a hint of a smile on Jonghyun’s and Minki’s faces, a grin of amusement at the tips of his own. Minhyun feels lighter.

Dinner finishes too quickly for his liking and Minhyun finds himself forced into an ocean of warmth and body heat that he doesn’t remember asking for. He never needs to, anyway, his friends offering without much hesitation, and Minhyun almost regrets giving them all spare keys to his apartment. 

“You’re crushing my wings!” He hears Minki cry out, snapping his head around in time to catch the boy crawling out of the entrance of a makeshift pillow fort. Blankets hung lowly across his living room, the pillows strewn in (unknowingly) strategic places for what he assumes will be an intense game of the Floor is Lava. He forgets, for a while at least, rolling on the balls of his feet and laughing into the fabric of Jonghyun’s shirt. 

“Why the fuck do you have your wings out, Minki? It’s not my fault you’re not being responsible with your assets!” Someone shouts back from inside of the fort and Minhyun has half the mind to assume it’s Dongho. Minki huffs from beside him, having scurried to his side for aid after spotting him sitting at the edge of the sofa.

(And Minhyun finds himself with Seongwu the next time it happens—and the next and the next and the next. After the 8th time he thinks that maybe Seongwu’s warmth calmed him down better than the water ever did. But he guesses that’s just the effect of him being half human, after all.) 


End file.
